What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s wartime unit during the Battle of the Somme?

J.R.R. Tolkien served with the Lancashire Fusiliers during the Battle of the Somme. He was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the 13th Battalion of the regiment in 1915.

Tolkien arrived in France in June 1916 and took part in the Somme offensive, one of the First World War’s largest and deadliest campaigns. He served as a signals officer, responsible for communication between units. The experience exposed him to trench warfare, illness, exhaustion, and the deaths of many friends.

Tolkien became ill with trench fever later in 1916 and was sent back to England. He did not return to active service in France. His wartime experiences are often discussed alongside themes in his fiction, especially fellowship, loss, endurance, and the destruction of landscapes.

It is too simple to identify one fictional character or place as a direct portrait of the war. Tolkien rejected one-to-one allegorical readings of his stories. Still, his military service and the loss of close friends formed an important part of his personal history and literary background.